


Memories

by NoScrubs12345



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-02-27
Packaged: 2018-01-13 23:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1244821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoScrubs12345/pseuds/NoScrubs12345
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lily Potter visits her mother, an Alzheimer's patient on the Closed Ward, she learns secrets about her mother's past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memories

The doors to the Closed Ward opened quietly and a petite redhead slipped in, her heels clicking on the floor as her perpetually messy hair danced about her shoulders. She nodded to the ever present nurse reading The Quibbler at her small desk.

“Good morning, Laura,” she said. “How’s Mum today?”

Laura smiled. “Sharp as a tack, Lily. She told me all about your father over her porridge this morning.”

The redhead smiled back and shifted her bag on her shoulder. “May I see her?”

“Go right ahead. She’s at her normal spot.”

Lily thanked the nurse before she turned and walked towards the large window overlooking the Muggle street below. She smiled when she saw her mother sitting in her customary chair in front of the window, watching the cars pass by. Her mother’s once fiery hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her jumper was on backwards.

“Hello, Mum,” Lily said as she placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. She plopped unceremoniously onto the floor next to her.

“Hello, Rose. So nice of you to stop by to visit this evening,” Ginny Weasley said with a smile, her voice dreamy.

“Mum, it’s me. Lily. Rose is in Devon with Scorpius—“

“I thought he was gay?”

“Mother!” Lily was taken aback. “What’s got in to you?”

Ginny didn’t answer. Lily noticed she kept running her hand over her old necklace.

“What have you got there, Mum?” she asked sadly, fishing for conversation.

“My locket, dear,” Ginny said and lifted it to show it to her daughter. “It was his.”

“Daddy gave it to you? How sweet!”

Ginny nodded. “The fake Horcrux from RAB. Bloody idiot, your uncle. He thought he was being romantic.”

“Mum! You mean that thing is—“

“Stop making such a fuss, Rose. You know how Kreacher liked to hoard things,” she scolded. “Harry took it back after he died.”

“I’m Lily, Mum.” She stared at the locket and noticed that the clasp was broken.

“That’s nice,” Ginny said. “How’s that boyfriend of yours?”

Lily searched her face for any sign of recognition. Finding none, she acquiesced to her mother’s disease. “He’s fine. He just promoted at the Ministry.”

Ginny made a disapproving noise. “I hope it was to a desk job. Being an Auror isn’t a safe job for a family man. Think of the children, dear.”

“Whatever you say, Mum.”

To hide her tears, Lily climbed to her feet to get her mother some water from the pitcher on her bedside table. Ginny smiled and thanked her after she had barely taken a sip. Lily placed the goblet next to her mother’s chair and, flopping back down on the floor, took her too wrinkled hand in her own. A comfortable silence fell over them. Lily furiously wiped at the tears that escaped her eyes and furtively glanced up at Ginny to make sure she hadn’t seen noticed, but Ginny was lost in her own world.

“I loved his hair,” Ginny said after awhile. “I loved how the light would shine on it and make him look like such an angel.” She giggled.

Lily smiled, thinking of her father. “Yes, it was just so dark. It always shone almost blue it was so black in the sun.”

Ginny frowned slightly but continued. “And he made me feel so special, like I was the only girl in the world. He was so suave and debonair like those blokes from the old Muggle movies your mum is so fond of, Rose.”

Now it was Lily’s turn to frown. She couldn’t think of any actor who looked like her father.

“We could have had a perfect life together, but he left me too soon.”

“Mum, you and Dad did have a perfect life, and what’s all this rubbish about him leaving? He passed a few years back, remember?”

Ginny didn’t pay her a bit of attention. “And his eyes! Merlin, they were gorgeous! Dark as his hair and it felt he could see straight through you when he looked at you.”

“But I have Dad’s eyes, remember? They’re just like Gran’s.”

“How I miss my Tom.” Ginny sighed.

“Tom? Tom who—Tom Riddle?!” Lily asked in disbelief. “Voldemort? The guy who possessed you and tried to kill Daddy? Honestly, Mother!”

“How I loved him,” Ginny said, fidgeting with the locket as she stared out the window, lost in her memories.

Lily felt like she was going to be sick. Surely her parents had been happy…right? She could remember them laughing with her and her brothers after they had broke all the dishes in the china cabinet. They’d seemed the picture of perfection. However, she also remembered how it had been after she and Albus had moved out and after James went to live with Teddy. They’d barely spoke to each other, only bickering when they could be arsed to talk.

“Oh, hello Lily, dear,” Ginny said, blinking down at her. “When did you get here?”

Lily smiled. “Just now, Mum. Would you like me to read to you?”

Ginny smiled with childlike enthusiasm. “Please. I’m just dying to find out more about Sir Henry Baskerville and his hound.”

Lily took the book from her handbag and started to read to her mother. Just as Watson was about to discover who the man of the moor was, Ginny finally nodded off in her chair. Lily dog-eared the page and, standing, kissed the top of her mother’s head before leaving, her brain addled and heart heavy. Back in her chair, Ginny’s head lolled forward and her chin came to rest on her chest as she softly snored, lost to her pleasant dreams.

******

_She was young again, her red hair shimmering in the dim Chamber lights. She glanced down at her clothes as footsteps approached._

_She started, taking in the elegant white dress she was wearing. She looked up as the footsteps stopped in front of her and her brown eyes grew wide._

_“May I have this dance, Ginevra?” Tom said, bowing and offering his hand to Ginny._

_She hesitated for only a moment before taking it. “Always, Tom.”_

_He smirked as she took his hand and pulled her close. And they danced._


End file.
